Annex A: Talk in the Early Years – Foundations for Thinking Aloud
A connected but distinct guide within the EBTD Guide to Classroom Talk.
A Connected but Distinct Guide
This annex is part of the EBTD Guide to Classroom Talk — but it stands as a separate guide for teachers and leaders working in the Early Years. It uses the same evidence base and core ideas from the main guide — modelling, structure, and purposeful dialogue — but looks at them through the lens of early childhood, where talk first becomes thinking.
Before children can reason aloud, they must learn to talk their way through the world.
The Early Years are the foundation of every talk routine that follows. When children describe, question, and narrate their play, they are rehearsing the cognitive moves that later support reasoning, reflection, and self-regulation.
Why We Created This Annex
In every Early Years classroom, talk is happening all the time — in laughter, in stories, in play. Children explore the world through words long before they can write about it, and teachers already use this power instinctively. This annex aims to make that instinct visible and intentional — to show how the talk that already fills the day can be harnessed for even deeper learning.
You’ll find practical strategies, evidence, and examples to help plan for talk with the same care we give to reading or number work. We recognise the reality of Early Years classrooms in Bangladesh — busy, joyful, and full of energy — and offer small, realistic ways to strengthen learning through dialogue within those rhythms.
Drawing on global and local research (EEF, OECD, BRAC IED), this annex highlights how purposeful talk can enhance children’s confidence, reasoning, and curiosity — while fitting comfortably within existing routines.
It’s not about adding more to the day — it’s about seeing the learning already happening in every conversation.
How It Fits Within the Main Guide
The main EBTD guide focuses on structured routines from Primary to A-Level — designing lessons where talk supports reasoning, explanation, and metacognition. This annex looks earlier — at how those principles begin in the first years of schooling. It shows how play, story, and everyday conversation prepare children for the talk-based routines they will later encounter in primary classrooms.
Every “Why?” in the early years becomes a confident “Because…” in later learning.
What the Annex Contains
This annex is organised into five short sections. Together, they form a pathway from unstructured play to purposeful talk for learning.
| Section | Focus | Core Idea |
|---|---|---|
| 1️⃣ Why Talk Matters in Early Childhood | Links to language development, self-regulation, and play. | Talk builds thinking — every conversation is cognitive rehearsal. |
| 2️⃣ Creating Spaces for Talk | Carpet areas, talk corners, puppets, and visual prompts. | The environment signals that talk is valued and expected. |
| 3️⃣ Everyday Routines | “Turn to a friend,” “Talk through your plan,” “Tell the puppet what happened.” | Daily repetition turns talk into habit. |
| 4️⃣ Teacher Modelling | Teacher as narrator and co-thinker. | Children learn to talk for learning by hearing adults think aloud. |
| 5️⃣ Progression to Structured Talk | Bridging from play dialogue to pair reasoning in upper primary. | Early routines evolve into the structured talk of the main guide. |
Who It’s For
- Early Years teachers in schools, NGOs, and community learning centres
- School leaders shaping early language and communication
- Teacher educators supporting pre-service or in-service training
In Summary
Talk is not an extra in the Early Years — it is the curriculum. Through talk, children build ideas, test predictions, make friends, and find their voices. By nurturing purposeful talk from the very beginning, teachers grow the roots of reasoning, curiosity, and confidence that every learner will need later.
🌱 The bridge from play to learning is built from talk.
